Apollo 11 blasts off from Cape Kennedy, Florida, heading for a landing on the moon. This was THE first moon landing launch, and we're celebrating it here today, the 50th anniversary.

CBS did a great job this morning putting together a collection of clips and snippets from the original television broadcasts. Take a peek, they are well worth the watch, especially for the youngsters like me who weren't there for it.

Good morning all! Happy Tuesday! It's been one heck of an adventurous week. Since we've been together last, I turned in my 2 weeks (and a day) notice to my employer, so more exciting things happening as the wheels turn. I'll keep y'all in the loop, but tentatively August 5th I'll open my car dealership and service center for normal business hours full time. Lots of late nights have been happening, and lots of cool tech/retrofits have happened over the last 2 weeks (TP-Link, well-priced wireless extenders, look them up). No, that doesn't mean I'm leaving Spark!. I will tentatively have 3 Tuesdays with substitutes (you've still got me next week!), then I'll be back in the saddle.

Now, you're probably wondering why in the world I'm covering M&M's. Today celebrates 50 years of the launch for the moon mission, so I figured it'd be appropriate to write about one of the top-10 favorite astronaut foods; sugar coated chocolate..... M&M's.

What do we do with M&M's? We eat them, and we make soft fluffy cookies with them.

Interesting short write-up about the history of the M&M can be found over here.

Mama RTHelpdesk1's M&M Cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup M&M’s, plus more for tops if desired.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars for 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir mix just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and M&M’s. Refrigerate dough for 15 to 30 minutes if time allows.

Using a large cookie scoop (about 3 Tablespoons), scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Place extra M&M’s on the top of the cookies if desired.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are barely golden brown. Allow cookies to set on pan for 2 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack.

Quote of the Day

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.”

—
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Comic of the Day

Mouseover: "If only somebody had warned them that the world would roll them like this."

Personal opinion: We should build a permanent base, preferably underground, on the Moon and a radio-telescope on the far side of the Moon. This way we could perfect transport and human habitat sustainability for a Mars mission.

Ahh, the Apollo missions. What an era to be alive in. It's interesting what the driving factor really was, though. Because we can? Not so much. Scientific innovation and progress? Maybe a little. Because we've explored most of the land on Earth and literally want to expand out horizons? Not really, but good side effect. Because we must be first and the best and damn the Russians? Jackpot.

I watched that landing live on TV. The fact that it was black & white did nothing to diminish the impact of it.

Watching those men in their short-sleeved white shirts man the control center was part of what inspired me to become an engineer.

The Apollo used DTL (diode-transistor logic) because it was robust and proven. None of that newfangled fancy TTL (transistor-transistor logic). Every AND, OR, and NOT gate was built from discrete components.

When we would run into problems figuring out a solution to a problem, or how to automate a process, my old boss would say "You should be able to figure this out; we landed on the moon for goodness sake." I would retort: "But we haven't been back in XX years!" He never did laugh at that with us.